


Hallelujah

by Multifandom_queer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Destiel - Freeform, Fluff, Guitarist Dean Winchester, M/M, Song: Hallelujah, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29627886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_queer/pseuds/Multifandom_queer
Summary: A destiel songfic for the song Hallelujah.Castiel overhears Dean playing guitar and singing and asks to learn. Fluff and bonding ensues.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Hallelujah

Dean never sang or played guitar for anyone; not even Sam. Well, not that Sam remembers, anyway. He used to sing Sam to sleep when he was a little kid, and Dad was being belligerent. That was long ago, though. A different Dean. But there Dean sat, in the basement of the bunker, with his old guitar dusted off, singing to himself for the first time in years. He lightly strummed, letting the strings vibrate over his calloused fingers. It wasn't perfectly in tune, but the melody washed over Dean as relaxed his shoulders and let the tension wash away, for the first time since he could remember. At last, he began to sing, his baritone voice reverberating throughout the room.

_Well I heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord. But you don't really care for music, do ya?_

Castiel didn't think anyone else was up this late at night, so he was certainly surprised when he hear music, of all things, emanating from the bunker's basement as he walked by one night. Music was Cas' favorite invention of mankind. It was so distinctly and beautifully human. As an angel, Cas always struggled with understanding human emotion, but through the melodies and harmonies, he could feel too. His curiosity now perked, Castiel quietly crept down the dark stairwell. About halfway down, a voice emerged from the strumming. Not just any voice; Dean's voice. Castiel stopped, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. Dean of all people, was singing. Cas had never heard anything as magnificent as what he was hearing. He could hear the years of pain, longing and anguish resounding in the deep melody. It was the song of a broken man; a beautiful man who had seen more than any man should have to see. Cas continued down the stairs, drawn to the man and his story. Cas had always been drawn to Dean but this was different; intimate almost. It reminded him of a prayer. This prayer wasn't to his father or anyone, though. This was Dean's open prayer to the world, and to himself. As he stepped off the last stair and onto the cement basement floor, the stair squeaked beneath Cas' foot. Dean froze, the tension coursing through his body once more. Someone had found him like this; vulnerable, weak, pained. He wasn't sure if he'd rather the unknown intruder be a friend or a foe. Slowly, he turned his head to face the man at the bottom of the stairs, and his heart dropped to his gut. There stood Cas, the last person Dean wanted to see. If it was Sam, maybe he could explain himself. How could he explain himself to Cas, though? Angels don't understand music, or the emotion it holds. They aren't equipped to process it. It's a human thing. Dean closed his eyes, fighting back tears, about to apologize when Cas spoke.

"Why did you stop?"

"You weren't supposed to hear that, sorry" Dean mumbled. "Just forget you saw anything". He felt his face heating up, and knew his ears were turning red.

"I don't want to forget" Cas blurted. Dean gave him a quizzical look. "It was beautiful, Dean". Cas looked up at Dean with those big innocent eyes, full of love and admiration.

"It was nothing close to 'beautiful', Cas" Dean scoffed. "Besides, how would you know? Isn't music a human thing? I didn't think angels could understand that stuff". Dean turned away from Cas. "It was beautiful to me Dean" Cas began. "I don't know if my brothers and sisters can feel it but I can. The movement of the song pleased me, but there was something else. I could feel, Dean". Dean felt his heart skip at Cas' description of music. He had never met someone else who understood the underlying emotion of music, its intimacies and what it brought out in him. He certainly wasn't expecting it from an angel. But it was Cas' next statement that truly caught Dean off guard. "Can you teach me?" Dean stopped in his tracks.

"What? Cas, I'm no teacher. I haven't even played since Sammy was a baby" Dean answered. He started to head towards the stairs, ready to forget this nightmare happened. Cas reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder, the same place as when he raised Dean from perdition. He looked up at Cas. Cas stared back at Dean, his eyes full of hope.

"Please". And that's how Dean found himself teaching Cas to play guitar. He stood over the angel, moving his fingers to the frets and watching him run his fingers over the strings inquisitively.

_It goes like this, the fourth the fifth, the minor fall the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah._

Neither of them knew how much time had passed, nor did they care. Dean scribbled down the lyrics, so Cas could sing along as Dean taught him the first verse and the chorus. Dean wasn't surprised to find that Cas could sing. What did surprise him was how he sang. It wasn't angelic, like a choir with harps, and all that sappy stuff that Dean hated so much. Rather, it sounded grounded, as if it came from the earth itself. Dean let the sound wash over him. The sound was gravelly, like Cas' regular voice, but it was real and pure. Cracked, but not yet broken. Dean felt himself relaxing, as the two friends sang together, and their voices became one. They laughed as wrong chords were strummed and Dean would gently move Cas' fingers across the neck of the guitar until they found the right chord, and they would continue. As the time slipped by, the mistakes became fewer and the awkward pauses between chords diminished as Cas began to get the hang of it. Cas became lost in the music as well. He loved the feeling of the strings pulling against his fingertips and the vibrations as the sound moved through his body. It was harder than he expected, learning exactly where to put his hands and how to strum, but he didn't mind. He could feel his heart flutter when Dean would gingerly correct him, brushing their fingers together. Eventually, his muscle memory began to kick in, and the chord progression came more easily. For the first time, Castiel felt like he was home. After another rousing chorus, Dean began to sing the next verse on his own.

_Maybe there's a God above, but all I ever learned from love is how to shoot at someone who out drew you._

Dean seemed to forget Cas was there, as he wistfully sang. The distant sorrow Cas heard when he first walked down the stairs returned. Cas watched the story unfold from Dean after being walled in for so long, protecting Dean from the agony and loneliness of hunting.

_And it's not a cry that you hear at night. It's not somebody who's seen the light._

He sang to Cas like it was all he had left. In a way it was, Dean supposed. Once he had a taste of the light, he could't help himself as he sang from the darkness, letting it out. At least for now, Dean had his light. He looked back at Cas as he sang the last line, almost as an apology, maybe more as a mournful epiphany.

_It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah._

Dean offered a weak smile as he sang through the simple chorus; four hallelujahs, each seeming to hold a different meaning. Cas wanted to reach out and tell Dean he's not alone, that he didn't have to take on this burden alone. More than anything, he wanted Dean to just talk to him, and tell him how he was feeling. Cas realized that the song was Dean's way of doing that. All the words he couldn't say, he sang instead. Castiel held out his hand, gesturing to the guitar. Silently, Dean handed it to him, the remnants of Dean's verse still lingering in the air. Just as Dean had taught him, Cas began to play, singing to Dean, a new verse.

_Baby I've been here before. I know this room, I've walked this floor. I used to live alone before I knew you._

Dean studied Cas' face as he sang, hearing Cas' story for the first time. He had never even considered that Cas could be as lonely and broken as he himself was. Castiel met Dean's gaze fully speaking to him now, his heart reading to Dean's.

_And I've seen your flag on the marble arch. Love is not a victory march._

Cas poured all his love for the hunter into his song, hoping Dean would understand his words. He did. Dean felt the angel praying to him for a change, and he knew that Castiel could see his true self and always had. Tears sprang to his eyes as he joined Cas on the last line once more.

_It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah._

Cas put the guitar down as the two stood up. Dean choked back a sob as he lunged forward and hugged his angel with all he had. Cas returned the embrace and the two stood there, intertwined, for a long time, healing together.

_I did my best, it wasn't much. I couldn't feel so I tried to touch. I've told the truth I didn't come to fool you. And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah._

_Hallelujah, Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah_

_Hallelujah._

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is my first fic on AO3. I originally posted this as broadwaynerd12 on Wattpad. If you haven't heard the Pentatonix version of this song, I beg you to go check it out. It's the best arrangement of this song I've ever heard, and honestly may be the best cover of any song.


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